Author(s)

Murat Özgen¹, Özgür Aydın²

¹Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Letters, Dokuz Eylül University, Izmir, Turkey.
²Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Language-History and Geography, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey.

Core Functional Categories are defined to be v⁰, T⁰, C⁰. They differ in that T⁰ is not treated as a phase head, while C⁰ and v⁰ are assumed to be phase heads: 1) a) [+ phase]: C⁰, v(*). b) [- phase]: T⁰. These heads are assumed to bear uninterpretable φ-features. T⁰ forms a defective a domain unless it is selected by C⁰. In other words, if T⁰ is selected by the phase head C⁰, it starts bearing a full φ-feature set; otherwise, it cannot inherit the features from C⁰, which leads to a defective domain allowing exceptional case marking (henceforth, ECM). Accordingly, T⁰ cannot also delete the features of the goal it enters an agree relation. In this respect, the defective features are Case/T⁰ features in the sense of Pesetsky & Torrego (2007). At this point, some other studies suggest that the defectivity is peculiar to only phase heads, and that T⁰ is ruled out of this argumentation: 2) a) [+ [+/- defective]]: C⁰, v⁰. b) [- [+/- defective]]: T⁰. There is an asymmetry in the understanding of defectivity between these two reasoning. The aim of this study is to discuss this asymmetry, and present evidence as to which distinction on defectivity does exist. We employed ECM data in Turkish to discuss the relevant distinction with reference to specific empirical proofs such as long distance scrambling, binding and negative polarity items. The results of the study support in favor of Pesetsky & Torrego (2007).

Core Functional Categories, Exceptional Case Marking, Defective, Inheritance, Phase

Özgen, M. and Aydın, Ö. (2016) What Type of Defective Feature Do Exceptionally Case-Marked Clauses of Turkish Bear?. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 6, 302-316. doi: 10.4236/ojml.2016.64031.